The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 185 Hard work is everything

"I have no doubts about your future success, but I hope you know that success requires hard work and efforts far beyond others. Before you truly take on responsibilities, all you have to do is devote yourself to training, work hard, and work harder!"

--Ferguson

In the summer of 1991, some astute reporters discovered that Ferguson promoted many youth training players to the first team. These were a group of new faces, different from the young players such as Lee Martin, Robins, Beers, Olsen, etc. who were directly used by Ferguson when he just took over the Red Devils. This group of young people entered the youth training system after Ferguson came to the Red Devils and were trained from the younger age of 13.

Thanks to Ferguson's persistence, the Red Devils' new youth training system is very large, starting from U14. The number of youth players at all levels is very large. The Red Devils' scout network is all over England, and Ferguson's network also extends to the community in Glasgow, Scotland. Outstanding football seedlings from all over the country have been excavated to Cliff (the Red Devils' youth training base at the time).

The elimination rate of the Red Devils' youth training is actually very high, but after Ferguson took over, there was still a blowout phenomenon, and finally the world-renowned Class of 92 appeared. To some extent, this was really God's help to Ferguson. Because in the later years, even though Ferguson still cultivated superstars such as Ronaldo and Rooney, there was no such situation as the emergence of a group of geniuses like the Class of 92.

In addition to the collective emergence of a large number of talented players, Ferguson's insistence on the requirements has never changed. He has always required young people to work hard and work hard to improve themselves. Ferguson believes that in addition to talent, football competitions require hundreds or thousands of times more effort than others and the ability to endure more hardships.

“Effort is everything!”

In the Red Devils youth training camp, this is the motto of head coach Harrison.

Strict and even harsh requirements, standards of continuous improvement, meticulous training programs, continuous tempering... The Red Devils Youth Training Camp provides a platform and an environment, but whether the players can stand out ultimately depends on themselves.

Among the young players of the Red Devils, Gary Neville's "childhood dream" is the most vivid. He is also one of the few players in the Red Devils team who only participated in the Red Devils training activities during his growth. Because his family lived nearby, Gary also joined the Red Devils youth training early. In him, it is perfectly explained how a young player can get a chance through hard training.

Gary was not so self-conscious when he first joined the Red Devils, but after seeing the amazing skills of Giggs and Scholes, he decisively implemented a hellish training on himself. He had realized that even the main position of the youth training team would face fierce competition. Gary trained frantically and even broke off contact with his childhood playmates, let alone had any thoughts about any girls. All he could think about all day long was training, training, and more training.

Gary is the most diligent and hardworking guy known in the entire base. Even the old players have known that there is such a person in the youth training camp for a long time. After all, Gary's figure always appears on the training ground and in the gym.

Gary once said, "If you don't have extraordinary talent, you must work harder and practice harder to have a chance. In order to fight for a chance to be a starter, I cut off contact with all my old friends. I was only 15 years old at that time. I know what it takes and what I need to endure, but I don't regret it."

Gary Neville is such a stubborn person. Throughout his career which is full of crisis, he always works hard to reach the standards of the Red Devils.

Beckham, a handsome Londoner, is also a training maniac. He has no relatives or friends in Manchester, so he spends all his time on extra training. On the road from the Cliff base to Beckham's boarding house, this handsome boy has been seen running alone time and time again.

Countless fans are fascinated by Beckham's scimitar, but they don't know how Beckham trained. Beckham told all the fans frankly that he would practice free kicks every time after the team training, and also seize every opportunity to learn from masters such as Irwin.

When Beckham was training free kicks, Gary Neville was always there to help pick up the ball. And when Gary needed a partner to practice tackling and confrontation, Beckham was also his regular partner.

Gary, who had a serious sense of crisis, was so crazy that he even went crazy and practiced before the official training. This guy practiced before the team's official training. This self-torturing practice finally produced a miraculous effect.

Gary is certainly not a stupid person. He is not a slow bird that flies first, but a talented child who works very hard. This is surprising. When he was training with Beckham, he also practiced looping balls and long passes. He also constantly learned all kinds of knowledge and experience from big guys like Robson and Bruce.

Beckham's scimitar was deadly and Gary's cross was equally threatening.

Gary practiced like crazy, his brother Phil couldn't do it, but he was very impressed. Phil Neville said that Gary would even find time to practice after returning home, and even think about dribbling the ball while eating. Apart from eating and sleeping, he spent almost all his time on football.

Red Devils youth team coach Harrison said Gary deserves the honor of captain and is a role model for young people.

Butt and Scholes are extremely talented. They were not very willing to practice more at first, but Gary brought a sense of crisis, so they and others started to practice more to varying degrees.

Hard training is the most important thing, and it is the only way to improve one's ability. With hard work, talent is like a shining gem, and it suddenly bursts out with brilliant brilliance. Another very powerful thing about these children who grew up together is that they have a strong sense of collective honor and get along well with each other, which makes them more in tune with each other on the court and become more collectivist.

Harrison said, "I am sure that these are essential for young players, self-conscious hard work, unity and active cooperation, so as to defeat strong opponents. They have already appreciated this key in the youth team, and their subsequent growth is naturally worth looking forward to."

Bobby Charlton himself came from the Red Devils youth training, and he also gave more care to the current youth training. He always went to watch the youth team games as much as possible, making the youth team coaches and children feel valued and appreciated. "His attention is a huge honor," said Nicky Butt. "We know that Mr. Charlton has always been behind us. He will watch almost every one of our home games and rush to the away games to cheer us on as much as possible. For a person of his reputation, this is an excessive requirement. His attention is like a priceless treasure. Sometimes when we play in Cliff, he even changes his jersey and stands on the sidelines-that is, if you don’t perform well, I will play!"

It's not just Charlton, Ferguson and other first-team coaches are the same. Harrison gets excited every time he talks about this, "Ferguson, Kidd... these masters who can decide the fate of any player come to watch the game in person, which must make the young players feel their importance. You can imagine the excitement on the faces of these children when they go home and talk about today's game and mention which famous people watched their game. Seeing these legendary players standing on the sidelines will make them remember all the excitement. Those legendary players belong to the greatest clubs in the world, and so do these young players. Those parents will also know how determined the club is to make their children become top figures."

Some outstanding players, such as Giggs, got the opportunity to play for the first team very early. He made his first appearance for the Red Devils just after he turned 17, and became the target of other children. Giggs spent most of the 1990-1991 season in the first team and trained with the main players. He was very happy to have such an opportunity, but he didn't think about playing directly at that time. On a weekend in March 1991, Kidd suddenly said to him: "You are training with our reserve team today and preparing to play. Boss wrote your name into the big list."

Giggs said: "I was suddenly confused and a little dazed during the whole training. After the training, Kidd said to me: 'Report to Old Trafford at noon tomorrow, remember to be on time, you may have to play.' I was overwhelmed by great happiness. Some old players teased me and said: 'You will play in the game tomorrow, kid.', 'Enjoy this moment, this is your history...' I arrived on time the next day. I was so excited that I couldn't tell the directions. It was like a group of butterflies dancing in my head. When the coach announced the list of players one hour before the game, I was really stunned. I didn't think all this was true."

Giggs came on as a substitute in the second half, replacing Irwin, and thus completed his first official game. Giggs still remembered the scene many years later. He said: "The coach asked me to warm up and then signaled me to play. I felt like I was floating in the clouds and was overwhelmed by great happiness. People always ask me what it felt like to make my debut in front of the fans at Old Trafford. I was dizzy at the time and forgot everything. I played for the reserve team or the youth team here, but I was still very nervous and trembling all over. Those overwhelming cheers were an incredible experience. We were leading 2-0 at the time and I was arranged to play with Sharp and Wallace. Looking back at the video at that time, what I think now is: why is that hairstyle so stupid?"

Giggs knew that this opportunity came from Ferguson, and his memories are full of gratitude to Ferguson. "From the day he came to my house when I was 14, he has been helping me grow. Without him, I would not be who I am today. He not only simply protected me from the outside world, he also paid attention to protecting my body and physical fitness. Coach Ferguson not only kept me away from the media spotlight, but also paid attention to arranging my playing opportunities and game time reasonably."

Giggs said: "When I was a youth team player, I often went to play games because those games were easy for me. But one day Alex called me into his office and told me that I had played about 85 games that season, which was too much for me. At that time, I didn't dare to refute him. In fact, I thought I could play twice as many games.

Ferguson noticed Giggs's dissatisfaction and told him seriously not to take it lightly. Ferguson told Giggs that when he was at Aberdeen, he had a very promising young player under his command, but he played too many games at too fast a pace, so he soon suffered all kinds of unnecessary injuries, and then his entire career was ruined. "

In the 1990-91 season, Giggs played only two games after joining the first team. Despite his brilliance, Ferguson still protected him. Ferguson said: "One key point in training young players is that you must not rush or overuse them."

Gary Neville later said: "Since my youth, I have been taught by the greatest coach in the world. He will consider everything for us. Not only me, but my teammates and I are deeply indebted. They are the best people for us."

The huge youth training system operates in a precise manner. Thanks to the hard work of Harrison and the coaches, a large number of promising talents have quickly emerged from the Red Devils youth training camp.

Many media outlets wrote articles praising Ferguson and his team for discovering many future stars. Some critics who had seen the "Busby Babes" even compared Ferguson's young players directly with them.

Well-known journalist Odin Matt said: "Seeing these young men on the field full of spirit and vitality, I vaguely saw the shadows of Edwards, Charlton and other geniuses. I found a similarity between Giggs and Best, that is, he is always full of confidence, regards the football field as his own stage, and all the lights are chasing him, and he enjoys it."

"When will they debut? When will they become the focus and even conquer the entire English football world? I can't put a specific time on it, but Ferguson will tell you that everything will be very soon."